optima23

ok so i changed the power door lock actuator. It doesnt seem to pull the rods enough to lock and unlock unless you push the button a few times. Can you get replacement rods for the interior of the door or should i be looking to another issue?

Blind Driver

Clean and lubricate everything. Including the cylinder locks.

Imthebriman

iTrader: (1)

You might want to check the relay or ground for the system. Both are behind the drivers side kick panel.

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

Blind Driver is right, just lubricate and clean the hell out of the locking mechanism. I had the same problem and just drenched the actuator with WD-40 and has been working fine for about 2yrs now...make sure you lift up the rubber boot and get under there aswell...

mikespeed

I'm having the same problem. I pulled the door panel off and cut the plastic back, but its hard to reach anything. I tried to clean the window tracks and the locks but after I put it all back together the locks still stick. Should I have pulled the inside door panel off? Is that an option?

Blind Driver

You pulled the outer door panel off?

Shadow Z

iTrader: (2)

This is why I want manual locks, although, power windows are nice.

88gta_hiflyer

iTrader: (1)

I just had the same problem but I solved it last weekend. You need to remove your door panels and wipe all of the moving parts down really well. Then soak them with about half a can of WD-40, especially the latch mechanism. They will probably work after that but don't stop there. Many people make the mistake of using WD-40 for the wrong applications. In this case the WD-40 is really only needed as a solvent to remove built up dirt and grit. Wipe as much of it off as possible. Then spray everyting down with white lithium grease. This will lubricate everthing and does not break down or evaporate like WD-40. Work the locks for a while. Mine took a couple of days before they started working really smoothly but now they are like brand new. Good luck!

Blind Driver

Could also try removing the inner panel,then go off to the car wash to hose all the gunk. You may want to remove several plugs in the bottom of the doors for drainage. Then spray everything with a good degreaser like Royal Purple. You'll need to regrease the window regulator and spray the WD40 on all the locking parts. If you are having trouble unlocking the door with the slider or the key, then more cleaning/lubing will be needed. Be sure to use the lithium grease after.

Try not to vet water into the lock actuator or the window motor.

88gta_hiflyer

iTrader: (1)

Again, most people don't understand how to use WD-40. It is not going to provide permanent lubrication. It evaporates very quickly and will in fact break down the grease that was originally there. It is fine to clean the mechanism with WD-40 but then you need to coat it with lithium grease or you will be taking your doors apart again in a few weeks.

Chevy8588

iTrader: (1)

personally i wont used WD-40 for that, i'd use brake and parts cleaner bucause it evaporates faster and wont remain trapped like WD-40 can, silicone spray works really well for this too. cleans better too. THEN use the white lithium grease!

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

man, you guys are over complicating this. Do this, keep pushing the lock/unlock button with the panel off and anything that moves, hose down with WD-40. The end. Its been working fine for me for 2 years. I know this because I have keyless entry and it unlocks both doors every time every day. I haven't had problems, I haven't had to "regrease". I didn't use any $1,000 bottle of Royal Purple stuff or hunt down the lithium grease....

Chevy8588

iTrader: (1)

Wow yer a little crotchety arent yah? Fact of the matter is this; WD-40 is a water displacer, it's qualities as a long term lubricant SUCK, and in all reality it sucks for pretty much anything aside from stopping a squeaky hinge for a few days. PB blaster all the way! Regardless, royal purple is a degreaser, and it costs 3 bucks at wal-mart not $1000, stop over exagerating, it makes you look like an idiot. Also - just because suddenly it works properly does NOT mean it's properly lubed, all it means is that all the crap in there that gummed it up is gone. Example: Just because your doors open silently does not mean the hinges are properly greased, the exact reason why that hinge will sag in the future. The proper way of doing this is to clean everything movable in the door with a solevent and re-lube it all with lithium grease to prevent wear. It's what we do at the dealership.

Sincerely,
The Certified Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac, and GMC Technician :P

mikespeed

Uh,.. the inside outer door panel,... you know, the particleboard one. Behind that was a big piece of sheet metal with a few holes in it. Does this part come off, or do I have to just work around it?

P.S. now my car stinks like lithium grease

Blind Driver

Work around it if that is what the inside door panel attacked to. When I took mine off, the panel was so old is was hard to get the fasteners(pine cones) out with the panel. I plan to make new panels by spring.........

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

The point of this thread was to get his locking actuator to work. Not to discuss the lubricating properties of WD40, lithium grease, etc. If WD40 worked to get his actuator working (as a detergent in this case) then problem solved. The WalMarts here (all 5) don't carry Royal Purple stuff. And at the retailers that do, its usually priced about 40%-50% more than the next brand of the same product; hence my exaggeration.

Sincerely,
One of the millions of unemployed Americans that is still trying to stay in the motorsports hobby without spending a fortune.

88gta_hiflyer

iTrader: (1)

"Hunting down" lithium grease would consist of going to any auto parts store in the country with a $5 bill. But yes, it is possible to "fix" your car without doing it right.

Chevy8588

iTrader: (1)

yup, and I'll be waiting in the service shop to charge an arm and a leg to fix it the right way when those who ghetto fix their cars screw it up!

THANK YOU TO ALL THE HACK JOBS OUT THERE FOR THE JOB SECURITY!

Blind Driver

While you guys are playing around with your doors, don't forget to clean and lube the track at your hatch lock.

mikespeed

I HATE WALMART! The only thing I will willingly go to Walmart for is motor oil. $22 for 5qts of Mobil 1 make the differance between a $30 oil change or a $50 oil change.

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ what is it about Walmart?!?

,... wait, what were we talking about?

QUICKCHICKEN

iTrader: (12)

the big culprit is the lever just above the actuator. being its very out of sight its easily missed and thats the one main thing i hit when mine start acting up. i also use a lil vasolene in the plastic rod guide. WD will just gum up that part.

Chevy8588

iTrader: (1)

case and point

QUICKCHICKEN

iTrader: (12)

what do you mean by that? works great for me, did it one time 4 yrs ago and havent touched that part again.

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

Chevy8588

iTrader: (1)

do what you guys want, there's a right way and a wrong way. just because you can seal a hole in a pipe with duck tape and JB weld doesnt mean you should do it. when your lock actuators wear out from moving dry dont come pissing and crying on the boards about, you've been told the proper way, but i guess there are some people out there who refuse to spend a coupld of extra dollars, and if you are unemployed, i have an idea for you, get a job before you dump money into your car!

QUICKCHICKEN

iTrader: (12)

i agree, there is a right and wrong way, but there are plenty of ways to get things done and still be correct.
i never said i did it once and never check back up on things. and as for a job, i have 3 of them, here are their web sites. all 3 of which are where you MUST do things correct or they wont happen or you will die.

http://www.rclcomp.com/homepage.html

http://newdaisy.com/ im the house lighting director here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZa2ROnvO80 these 2 are the local pyro company i work with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq2EPRUSr50

mikespeed

Oh yeah! I think we were talking about door locks,...

Chevy8588

iTrader: (1)

like i said do what you guys want, u wanna half ***? half ***. i will continue to post the proper procedures, what you do from there is your business and your ride.

HCR13

iTrader: (5)

stop being an ******* and don't tell me how to run my life, its not by choice that I'm unemployed. Be thankful you have a job. I would love to have a job that I actually enjoy, working on cars and such. Which hopefully one day I will. We're talking about a door lock actuator, not an intank fuel pump. Quickchicken is right, there can be more than one correct way to repair something. If people didn't think outside the box or looked for different methods to go about doing things then innovation would be nonexistent. When I have a problem, I don't go crying to any mechanic. I was never into cars until I got the Trans Am. I didn't even know there were 2 kinds of fuel management (carburator, fuel injection). I've been the only one that has worked on my car whatever problem it has had, from mechanical, to electrical to interior and just straight up custom stuff. I'll be fine...

Rgeddes09

I think this is the most impassioned I've ever seen a group of people get over lubing a car lock

mikespeed

Or not lubing, as the case may be,...

Buckle up here we go again!!

mtflyboy

well I surprisingly got a couple ideas of how to fix my locks from this haha...

evilstuie

hey, don't suppose anyone has pics of the parts to wd-40 and re-grease?
Can i clean all of this without having to drill out the rivets and remove the actuator?

mtflyboy

i pretty muhc just wiped them down a couple times, and kept hitting the button until they worked...

evilstuie

HA!
Worked a charm.
Just doused the parts and under the rubber boot with wd40 and hit the button a bunch of times and works perfect now.

88fastgta

iTrader: (9)

im having the same problem with my door locks so im going to switch to manual locks..... one less headache to worry about......

evilstuie

haha,
i would but it would go against the theme of the car.
I'm putting an in car pc in to run an aftermarket ecu, dvd/satnav, wireless internet access, pc controlled sound system, and voice activated commands, and 12" touch screen, so it'd look out of place with manual locks :P

1Aauto

If anyone gets really stuck and can't fix the one they have,we do carry new door lock actuators for both the Firebird and Camaro.They aren't a whole lot of money, here's a link to them on the site. Camaro Door Lock Actuator

Al Hasse

What shape are your doors in? Do they sag when you open them? I just replaced the upper/lower hinge pins and detent rollers on my 92, which had a very bad sag on the driver side, and now my locks work like they're supposed to. It used to be kind of hit and miss if the driver door would unlock, now it has every time so far since hinge repair.

evilstuie

did you have bad leaks too?

hellz_wings

iTrader: (2)

Hey guys I thought i cleaned everything inside the doors but i must have screwed it up more cuz they stopped working completely... All I hear is a click and no movement and then sometimes no click at all! Could be bad wiring? I'll try cleaning it all up first though again... Can I clean everything without taking them out of the door? (latch mechanism, door actuator for example?)

Thanks this has been bugging me for years!!

Al Hasse

Yes I did, but not big ones. I had the windows and tops adjusted to where the leaks were minimal, now I need to start over again

evilstuie

hellz:

You might have done what i did, there was a set of wires that were zip-tied to the door frame which i cut off and let loose, as soon as i wound down the window it unplugged and i had nothing.

Also it could also be bad earth with the relay.
Just double check the switch is plugged in, the relay is grounded, and the plug is secure, and that the actuator wire is working.
And I just took of the door trim, doused the actuator with wd-40, then lifted the rubber boot seal and doused that, and then sprayed it from above in the space for the window, and then another shot into the latch itself.
Works perfect now first time everytime(well so far)

hellz_wings

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the showing me some hope with these locks! Okay i'll definitely try that... I'll take off the kick panel and look in there (as someone mentioned above)... How do i check if the wire itself is bad or not working properly? Also, the 'rubber boot' that i'm seeing mentioned here, is that the rubber boot on the lock actuator itself? Sorry if i'm asking silly questions, just wanna be sure! Thanks a bunch!

-marc

z28 TPI

Yup the rubber boot everyone is talking about is the one on the top of the actuator. What i did to fix mine is take the acutator apart piece by piece. Took all the grime and gunk off everything from the brushes of the motor to the gears inside. Found out that a piece of plastic had broken off inside where the gears are and wedged itself in the gears lol. Would never of guessed lol. Now i just gotta do that to my passenger side and im home free. Oh after I cleaned everything I hit it with lithium grease no probs. since. And it works like new.

evilstuie

I didn't take mine apart only because I'd have to drill out the rivets and then find a set of nuts and bolts to replace it with when i was done.
I just did what I could with what I had and it worked, but the best way to go about it is zTPI's way. It's a bit of extra work, but I'll probably have to take my door trim off and give it another spray ever 6months or year, wheras taking it apart and cleaning it properly will keep it going for years.
Or alternatively you could change the actuator with an aftermarket one for pennies.

KITT1983

iTrader: (3)

bump

hellz_wings

iTrader: (2)

Took apart the driver's door to do a few things...

After hours and hours I figured out how to adjust the windows and finally got it right (PERFECT HEIGHT NOW! Solid, no rattling, door closes like new..) I tape the door striker with electrical tape (not sure if that did anything), I zip tied every loose item in the door (actuator, brackets, etc.) and sprayed white lithium grease everywhere...

Now, the door lock actuator is new (got it off hawks) and doesn't work. It works halfway, but doesn't go all the way (it goes until where it pulls the lock rod and stops, don't know why.) If I manually lift the actuator boot it goes all the way, physically, but when pressing the button it only goes so far, no lock or unlock (it just shifts left and right inside that bracket, but doesn't go far enough to pull that bracket to move the lock rod). Also, the lock rod is loose and I saw pics of a newer version of our doors (probly 88 and up) that have a bracket that holds the lock rod AND the door handle rod tightly in place.. Anyone know where to get this? Ebay maybe? I tried searching but could not find it...

The connection is good, wires are good, it seems to work halfway.. I guess I should take it out and put ANOTHER new door lock actuator in?? I am baffled at how a new lock actuator doesn't work properly.. The passenger side one doesn't work any better either and it's new as well....

I tried spraying white lithium grease inside and around the lock mechanism as much as I could and it seems to be working fine to me... The problem lies within the actuator. The old ones I had actually were capable of 'unlocking' the doors, but not locking.. It would slowly attempt to lock it little by little but never completely locking it.

So, solution: New lock actuators OR keep looking for alternatives?

evilstuie

You shouldn't need to, but my car actually had another set of relays that stayed on that bit longer to give it an extra push, the lazy alternative to cleaning the actuators. But if its all new my only guess is that the angle for the linkage is wrong/off, or maybe too much grease?

KITT1983

iTrader: (3)

I have the same problem but with my driver side door. The Drivers side power lock unlocks fine and it only locks if the latch is half way or if I repeatedly press the lock button. The key lock on both doors lock and unlock fine with the key. I replaced the power door lock actuator twice with one from pepboys (HELP/Dorman brand) and one from 1A auto. they both work good. the problem seems to be somewhere else. it seems that something is binding.